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A great second pairing of this hip team – further proof that Tony Bennett was a hell of a jazz singer when he wanted to be! Titles include "You're Nearer", "Lonely Girl", "You Must Believe In Spring", "Two Lonely People", and "The Bad & The Beautiful". (Vocalists, Jazz) LP, Vinyl record album

An obscure bit of boozy sad songs – proof that Holliday had a lot more to offer than just an extremely strong showing on Broadway. She's working here with arrangements by Glen Osser that sort of take off from the spirit of "The Party's Over" – sad and dreamy, but also with a bit of hope. Titles include "Lonely Town", "How About Me", "Trouble is A Man", "Am I Blue", "Confession", and "An Occasional Man". (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

Missing links in the Stan Kenton recordings for Capitol Records – a pretty wonderful set rarities or altogether previously unreleased material he cut for Capitol in the mid-to-late 50s! Includes some 1955 octet sessions with players including Carl Fontana, Charlie Mariano, Max Bannett and Mel Lewis – with some swing to them, but also some surprisingly looser sounds, plus tracks from some 1958 saxophone septet sessions with Lennie Niehaus, Bill Robinson and others, a few other '58 sessions, and a couple live gems. 20 tracks in all: "All I Need Is You", "Joyce's Choice", "Sweet Sue, Just You", "Tangerine", "Wail For Gail", "Theme To The West", "Serenade In Blue", "I'll Close My Eyes", "Cuban Mumble", "Tequila", "Walking Shoes" (live) and "Love For Sale" (live). CD

Mulligan plays with his orchestra, with featured soloists including Keith O'Quinn on trombone, Mitchel Forman on piano, Mike Bocchicchio on bass, Barry Ries and Tom Harrell on trumpet, Gerry Niewood and Ken Hitchcock on alto, and Gary Keller on tenor. CD

A pretty darn great record, and a lot more swinging than you'd expect! The basic theme is the Wizard Of Oz – but Shorty makes the tunes groove way way more than they ever did, and thanks to help from hip players like Jimmy Giuffre, Herb Geller, and Bud Shank, the tracks have loads of breakway moments that are nice and jazzy! In way, working in this sort of tightly restricted set was a great way to get Rogers out of his mid 50s slump – when he was writing himself into a corner with the same sort of chamber jazz numbers all the time. In this sort of album, he's already got the basic pattern – and is free to really open up the band and the charts with the sort of creativity that he began his career with. Titles include "The Jitterbug", "Over The Rainbow", "We're Off To See The Wizard", and "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead". CD

Ralph Sharon Trio performs songs by Harold Arlen including "Ill Wind", "A Sleepin' Bee", "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", and "That Old Black Magic". CD

With special guest Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax. (Vocalists, Jazz) CD

18 songs from Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, Andy Kirk & His Twelve Clouds Of Joy, Walter Page's Blue Devils, Hattie North & George E. Lee & His Orchestra. CD

A great reading of the music – billed as "played by a very unusual cast" on the cover – and we agree! The combo features Cootie Williams on trumpet, Hilton Jefferson on tenor, Rex Stewart on flugelhorn, Lawrence Brown on trombone, and Pinky Williams on baritone – and arrangements are by Jim Timmens. LP, Vinyl record album